Boston College defense should improve

This is the second in a series previewing the upcoming Boston College football season. Up next: The offense.

BOSTON — The Boston College defense once feasted on turnovers.

Its philosophy was simple, to stuff the run in order to force the opposition to throw, and then attack the ball in the air. And it worked for years, until the talent dried up and the Eagles had neither the size and strength to stuff the run nor the athleticism to compete with opposing wide receivers.

So in the final years under coach Frank Spaziani, the defense bent and bent and bent, and then broke, dying slow deaths on drive after drive.

The philosophy changed last year in the Eagles’ first season under coach Steve Addazio and defensive coordinator Don Brown.

It went on the attack, and that paid dividends. The team’s sack total skyrocketed from six in 2012 to 35 last year, which ranked 19th in the country.

And yet BC, which had allowed 29.7 points per game two years ago still gave up 28.9 last year. There was marked improvement in the overall record from 2-10 to 7-6, but the defense didn’t lead the way.

More work needs to be done.

“I believe in explosives,” said Addazio. “On offense I believe in explosives, and on defense I believe in explosives, and we created a lot of explosives on defense. ... We want continue to do that, and then we want to improve on our efficiency on third down. That’s important. We’ve got to have disruption, negative yardage plays, sacks, fumble recoveries — I believe in takeaways.

“I think we’re working really hard at that and have done a good job with that, and then overall third down we have to get off the field.”

If BC can continue to get pressure on the quarterback the improvement in other areas should come.

The secondary, which returns all four starters, will be a year more experienced and able to improve on the nine interceptions the Eagles netted a year ago. And the offense has been throwing more deep balls in camp in an effort to improve the secondary’s coverage and ability to fight for the ball.

In addition, there’s been added emphasis on tackling — Addazio and Brown are having the team do a lot more live contact drills in fall camp to give the defense a chance to do more tackling before the games begin. That should help BC improve its third-down defense, which ranked 88th in the country a year ago.

The other area where improved tackling will help is in the reduction of big plays.

The Eagles often seemed poised to stop an opposing offense only to get burned for a touchdown because of a missed assignment.

“It’s attention to the small things,” said senior linebacker Josh Keyes. “It’s paying attention to every little thing. One little lapse can lead to one big play.”

“We just have to be more detailed,” echoed senior defensive tackle Mehdi Abdesmad. “Everybody has to do their job and the big plays will cool down.”

As for talent, BC lost playmaking linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and stud defensive end Kasim Edebali to graduation. Also gone are steady linebacker Steele DiVitto and enigmatic defensive end Kaleb Ramsey.

But beyond them, the starters return, including Abdesmad who suffered a season-ending knee injury in BC’s loss to Florida State on Sept. 28.

Abdesmad had already amassed 17 tackles and two sacks before getting hurt, compared with 25 tackles and no sacks in 11 games the year before. The 6-feet-7, 297-pounder anchors a defensive line that also will have 6-feet-9 defensive end Brian Mihalik and 304-pound defensive tackle Connor Wujciak. Sophomore Kevin Kavalec could slot in as the other defensive end.

Keyes is expected to fill the role vacated by Pierre-Louis, and junior Steven Daniels could be a star in the making at linebacker.

Then there’s the experienced secondary, with senior safeties Sean Sylvia and Dominique Williams, and cornerbacks senior Manny Asprilla and junior Bryce Jones. Safety Justin Simmons, a junior, should also play a significant role.

“The defense is very physical,” quarterback Tyler Murphy said after a scrimmage last Saturday. “It’s not one of those defenses that are afraid, so when you run right at them they are going to run right at you. They are not going to hesitate or think twice. That’s good because you don’t face defenses like that all the time.”

The old formula is gone. BC won’t lead the nation in rushing defense as it did in 2010, and it won’t pace the country in interceptions as it did in 2008, but it might be one of the better ones in the country at getting to the quarterback.

Combine that with improved tackling and an increase in turnovers and the Eagles should at the very least allow a lot fewer points than they did a year ago.

Eric Avidon can be reached at 508-626-3809 or eavidon@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericavidon.